He that is taken and put into prison or chains is not conquered, though overcome; for he is still an enemy.

The worst solitude is to have no real friendships.

Truth is a good dog; but always beware of barking too close to the heels of an error, lest you get your brains kicked out.

Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.

He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator.

Hearing here, therefore, means any receiving of the word of God whether it be communicated to us by preaching, reading, or any other way.

Fat is a way of saying no to powerlessness and self-denial.

There is a difference between happiness and wisdom: he that thinks himself the happiest man is really so; but he that thinks himself the wisest is generally the greatest fool.

For my name and memory I leave to men’s charitable speeches, and to foreign nations and the next ages.

The place of justice is a hallowed place.

All wealth is the product of labor.

I put for the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.

It is a strange desire, to seek power, and to lose liberty; or to seek power over others, and to lose power over a man’s self.

He that hath knowledge spareth his words.

The genius, wit, and the spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs.

It is easier for a tutor to command than to teach.

Sudden glory is the passion which maketh those grimaces called laughter.

When a man laughs at his troubles he loses a great many friends. They never forgive the loss of their prerogative.

The remedy is worse than the disease.

Life, an age to the miserable, and a moment to the happy.

A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.

The counsel of God is, as it were, his deliberation over the best manner of accomplishing anything already approved by the understanding and the will.

Reasoning draws a conclusion, but does not make the conclusion certain, unless the mind discovers it by the path of experience.

Acorns were good until bread was found.

He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.

Pictures and shapes are but secondary objects and please or displease only in the memory.

The reason why men enter into society is the preservation of their property.

During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.

Riches are a good hand maiden, but a poor mistress.

I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death.

Discretion of speech is more than eloquence, and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words, or in good order.

The discipline of desire is the background of character.

That a man be willing, when others are so too, as far forth as for peace and defense of himself he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be...

Friendship increases in visiting friends, but in visiting them seldom.

We are much beholden to Machiavel and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do.

Science is but an image of the truth.

Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God.

The worship which directs itself toward God as our good regards him either as he is ours at present, in faith, or as he is to be ours, in hope.

All science requires mathematics. The knowledge of mathematical things is almost innate in us. This is the easiest of sciences, a fact which is obvious in that no one’s brain rejects it; for laymen and...

Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason.

It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral.

Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.

Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has a right to, but himself.

No man’s error becomes his own Law; nor obliges him to persist in it.

A bachelor’s life is a fine breakfast, a flat lunch, and a miserable dinner.

The worst men often give the best advice.

Next to religion, let your care be to promote justice.

Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him.

Words are the money of fools.

Seek ye first the good things of the mind, and the rest will either be supplied or its loss will not be felt.